Rejected by My Royal Mate

Ch 5- The First Invite

-Alyna-

I stared straight at Nathan, my eyes boring into his. "He will come, oh he will. Won't you, Nathan?" I whispered and the warrior looked so conflicted as he looked at me and then at his best friend. "Consider this my formal invite, Nathan. You are the very first one I am going to invite. So... yes or no?"

I was being reckless and rash, but the need to hurt Theo was stronger than my ongoing, endless feud with Nate. The scale was tipped to the revenge side.

"Alyna, can we-" Nathan started, and I knew I was making him uncomfortable, but I didn't care. People had made me feel uncomfortable all the time, and no one had cared, or apologized for it.

"Stop. Just stop," Theoden roared, looking furious as hell, and I could see his claws poking out of his scaly skin.

Oh, the dragon prince is definitely not very happy!

"You think you are going to scare me into submission by flashing your dragon? Let's see..." I lifted my chin defiantly as my eyes clashed with his glinting blue eyes, that were blazing like blue smokey flames. His hands were covered with sapphire scales, which glimmered in the sun, like a treasure trove of rare gemstones.

He hadn't fully shifted, but he was getting close.

I took a step towards Prince Theoden's dragon, my eyes daring him to do whatever he was planning to do. He lifted his scaly hands and grabbed my hand in his, his eyes narrowed at me. His hold was almost gentle, and I knew he was trying not to hurt me, but that small consideration didn't satisfy me.

Irene gasped as she placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Alyna, get back," Nathan said in a warning tone. "Theo, shift back..."

I had let them, and their power frighten me, control me. And breaking from those chains of fear and bullying meant... taking a stand. I wouldn't back-off.

The blue dragon roared.

"You are doing this to get back at me!"

"Oh, should I not, Prince Theoden? Am I not allowed? Do I have to nod my head and tuck my invisible tail between my legs and stay in a corner like an obedient puppy? Is that what you expected?! Well, unfortunate for you, that Alyna had died the moment-" I shuddered, thinking about Riya and him, his body finding hers, just after filling mine with sensations that still lingered. "You will regret it, Theoden Silverstone. I will make sure of it." I said as I pried his finger away from my arm and looked into his eyes, my eyes burning in my rage, my voice dripping with venom. "Sleep tight for a month Theo, because after that you will never sleep peacefully."

"Are you insane? Don't provoke him, Alyna," Nathan told me with a frown.

Theoden took a step back from me as if I had slapped him.

Years of loving him... and now I wanted nothing but to hurt him. Time was a cruel, cruel master, and I was only a powerless little puppet.

"He can't hurt me more than he has already done. So what would he do? Burn me alive, kill me? I am not scared."

Theo looked at me as if he had never seen me in his life. Nathan took in a deep breath as he shook his head.

I looked up to see my best friend winking at me. She approved!

"Alyna, you can never hurt me," he challenged, but I knew even he didn't believe what he said, because his words were tentative and hesitant.

"Are you so sure of that, my prince?" My words were soaked in sarcasm, as I took a step towards Nathan and his eyes warred with me, flashing in warning.

For three months, Prince Theoden couldn't be with anyone else, including Riya, and I- I could be with anyone I wanted. That must stung...

If this wasn't justice, I didn't know what was!

Whoever had created the rejection games centuries ago... oh, they must have had one hell of a grudge, and they wanted a big, monstrous payback.

I didn't give Nathan a chance to pull back. I grabbed him by his collar and smacked my lips against him, and a quick breath left his lips, as he gripped my hips in his big hand, digging his fingers painfully into my flesh.

It was so unlike me. This daring, audacious, shameless being... it was not me. I must have been possessed by something. And that was my only excuse for kissing Nathan Reyes without fearing the consequences.

My eyes were staring straight at Theo. He saw me, and he didn't like what he saw... Theo grunted and his eyes narrowed as a flash of pain crossed his face.

Nathan's lips were soft and hard at the same time, and I knew I started this only to hurt Theo, but...

Theo pulled Nathan away from me.

"What the hell are you doing, you f*cking asshole?" Theo shouted at his best friend, looking absolutely livid. I felt a moment of guilt for dragging Nathan and their friendship into this mess, but the guilt was soon replaced by anger, once again.

"I didn't do anything, Theo. You rejected her, remember? And I didn't kiss her, she kissed me."

"Oh, you surely kissed back," Irene said with a satisfied look on her face. She was enjoying this so damn much.

"You told me no one would want me, you told me no one will accept my invite for the games." I pointed a finger at Theo, my body stiffened in anger, and Theo flinched back as if I had slapped him. "He wanted me." Irene grabbed my hand in hers and squeezed it, comforting me.

"You told her what?" Nathan whirled around and glared at Theoden with so much anger in his eyes. "What the f*ck is wrong with you, you f*cking moron?"

"I-I was angry that-"

"There are some f*cking lines you should never cross. For the love of Savitr, what the hell are you thinking in your empty head?" Nathan hissed at him. Theoden looked like a trapped freshly hatched wyrmling...

"Yes." Nathan turned to look at me, and my heart thundered. The adrenaline was slowly draining and I feared that I would simply collapse...

"What?"

"Consider this my formal acceptance to your invite, Alyna."

Nathan turned and left.

***

-Theoden-

I had never felt so helpless in my life, or so angry.

I stared helplessly at Nathan's vanishing back. In the course of twenty-four hours, I had hurt my mate and made my best friend angry. Being a prince was not an easy life. The weight of the responsibility... it was too much for one man to carry at such an young age, and most of the dragons wanted me to be their friend only because I was the Prince.

Most of them wanted to be my friend for the things I could give them.

Nate had been my only real friend from when I was young. Even when I wanted to give him something, he would reject it.

And now... I had made him angry.

I looked at Alyna, and she was also staring at Nathan's back, a kind of dazed look in her eyes, which made me want to shake her out of the damn daze. I didn't like the way she was looking at him.

I had no damn right, and I knew that, but knowing that wasn't helping me stop this anger.

I knew...if I let it grow, it would destroy my world, this anger.

I looked at Alyna, remembering her beautiful golden eyes as she gazed into my eyes with so much lust and passion. Now there was only hatred in those eyes.

She sighed and turned to look at her friend, Irene, who I was sure hated me more than Alyna did.

"Let's go, Rene, I am so tired," she whispered, and my heart twisted strangely. Irene glared at me one last time before they both walked away. I kept staring at Alyna, hoping she would turn to look at me one last time, but she didn't.

I stood there for a long, long time, before I walked back to the castle, feeling like my heart was being torn to pieces. My shoulders were bent and my back felt like I was carrying a bagful of rocks/

I was bound. By obligation. By duty.

I would love to break the traditions, but could I put my kingdom's safety at risk for... for her?!

When a dragon marked his mate, the strength of his mate would give him more power. Her dragon and his dragon would each grow from their shared power, their magnificence doubling, their mightiness unrivaled.

If I marked Alyna, I wouldn't get any power. She had no dragon. As far as everyone was concerned, she might very well be the commonfolks who lived far off in the kingdom of Lumene, with no power, under the protection of the Dragon Empire.

She might have come from a long line of warriors and aristocrats, but she was the cursed. Only the second one in over two centuries.

And a prince and a cursed... it would never work.

On my way to the castle, I saw Riya walking towards me, a concerned look on her face. I had been dating Riya for three months, and I liked her. She was fierce and kind, smart and beautiful. She would be a perfect Queen on paper, so why did the Sun God pair me with a dragon-less girl, and why did I want that dragon-less girl with everything in me?!

"I heard," she whispered as she gave me a gentle look. I couldn't even look at her without feeling the guilt. "Theo, do you really want to reject Alyna?" she looked at me, her eyes worried.

"I have to."

"Because?" There was only curiosity in her eyes. No hatred. No anger. Like I said, she was the perfect woman.

"Because... no one would accept her as my Queen!"

"But do you want her as your Queen?"

I don't f*cking know.

"No, I can't want her."

~~~